Per diem physical therapist vs therapist

The differences between per diem physical therapists and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a per diem physical therapist has an average salary of $74,590, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

The top three skills for a per diem physical therapist include patients, rehabilitation and per diem. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Per diem physical therapist vs therapist overview

	Per Diem Physical Therapist	Therapist
Yearly salary	$74,590	$55,943
Hourly rate	$35.86	$26.90
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	87,365	159,770
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	-	-

What does a per diem physical therapist do?

A per diem physical therapist is responsible for performing therapy treatments for patients when the institution is short-staffed for therapists. These therapists design recovery plans to help ease patients with their movements and daily activities after suffering from injury, illness, and other medical conditions. They diagnose patients to evaluate treatment methods, observe their progress every session, and modify plans until the final recovery. A per diem physical therapist operate various tools and equipment, schedule treatment appointments, and monitor the patients' medications.

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

Per diem physical therapist vs therapist salary

Per diem physical therapists and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Per Diem Physical Therapist	Therapist
Average salary	$74,590	$55,943
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $108,000	Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Alameda Health System	Childhelp
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between per diem physical therapist and therapist education

There are a few differences between a per diem physical therapist and a therapist in terms of educational background:

	Per Diem Physical Therapist	Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Physical Therapy	Psychology
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	California State University - Long Beach

Per diem physical therapist vs therapist demographics

Here are the differences between per diem physical therapists' and therapists' demographics:

	Per Diem Physical Therapist	Therapist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 30.2% Female, 69.8%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between per diem physical therapist and therapist duties and responsibilities

Per diem physical therapist example responsibilities.

Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
Help patients adapt to the use of braces, canes, crutches and prosthetic/orthotic devices as needed.
Assist patients to adapt to the use of wheelchairs, braces, canes, crutches and prosthetic/orthotic devises.
Provide patient care in a SNF setting with the primary emphasis on transitioning patients from hospital to home.
Provide assessments and documentation for adaptive equipment.
Supervise PTAs and physical therapy aides in direct patient-relate activities.

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

Per diem physical therapist vs therapist skills

Common per diem physical therapist skills

Patients, 26%
Rehabilitation, 16%
Per Diem, 14%
Home Health, 10%
Treatment Programs, 6%
Physical Therapy Assistants, 3%

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Per Diem Physical Therapist
Per Diem Physical Therapist vs Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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